Implications for practice and research

The findings have the potential to increase care providers’ awareness about possible approaches to decreasing women's childbirth
fear.

Prior to widespread implementation study findings should be replicated using a more methodologically sound approach that increases
compliance with the intervention and avoids the Hawthorne effect, and takes anxiety into account.

Context

Childbirth fear among the population of pregnant women in developed countries has been positively associated with poor birth
outcomes and the increased likelihood of caesarean section.1 The rising proportion of women giving birth by caesarean section and the recognition of the increased risk of maternal morbidity
associated with this mode of birth, has led to …